Persephone's Lullaby
by BlueStarlightWriter
Summary: "She was left by the shore, soon claimed by the water. But Pan knew it would not be the last time that he saw the Lady of the Lake. For fate would have their paths cross once more… many, many centuries later." Pan/Faun x OC story.


**Persephone's Lullaby**

 **Chapter One: Ancient and Trying Times**

Her time in the isles of Fae had neared its end.

She had foreseen the coming of the night many times throughout her brief time on the mystic plane of her birth, often in subtle whispers throughout her dreams or in the soft reflection of her hourglass. She had felt the natural magics of her people gradually recede with the passing of time, subtle and light as sand drifted from white dunes. But she never thought the time would come, or at least not when it did. She had expected it to happen when her flesh had gnarled to a taunt, waxy sinew and when her hair had fell from her head to seed the earth. She had not expected it to happen during her maiden years when her soul, though keen and strong, had yet to fully flourish. She was an ancient to those of younger lineages, but to her race, she was barely a sapling compared to the elders of her people.

She had tried to delay the inevitable, but in the end it was the northern wind that had drew the Lady from the withered alcove of her hidden grove, cast out beneath weltering blossom and rosy juniper ferns, bare to the skin save for a robe of silky thorns threaded into her delicate body. Her sense of unease and fumbling fingertips brought about a strange, near uncomfortable sight to the owls perched on the highest branches, but none could hold judgement on the young nymph after waking so early from her rest to the world she had found herself in. After all, snow had been a foreign concept for her. The small crystals of fallen ice that caught her outstretched hands were strange, cold flakes, but despite their coldness, when caught sparkling in the moonlight at just the right angle, she could not deny winter's beauty. And so she drifted over the white-crisp leaves and frosted bark of the land, surprised to find that despite the years she had slept, the world had changed little in its time, though that was the way of all things within the depths of the Underworld.

In the Underworld the passing of the seasons, as of daylight and eve, were a calmer, gradual process than the world heralded above. It meant long slumbers for the native wildlife, bountiful springs for the roaming stags and doe, plenty of time for the young nymph to dream. There was little threat for her and so her rest had always gone undisturbed until sunshine had begun to blossom, and the warmth of the summer had taken root over the following years. Her wake within the midst of a snow-fallen winter was a troublesome sight for any that observed her wander, one that stirred whispers through the wind and secrets through the earth.

Driven by anxiety, the Lady's wanderings led her west out of the moonlight and into the shadow of the forest, across the harsher terrains of smog to the depths of the thickest marshes. Then finally, when the land grew thick and steep, stone and steps replacing the natural wilds of the forest, had she found herself in the clearing of an ancient grove, where the Lake of Rebirth glistened in royal sapphire, rippling only the constellations reflected in its softer waters, while a thin film of silvery mist drifted ominously over the surface. The sycamores that guarded the lake's grand landscape curled over it in long, silver arches as vines of rusty amber intertwined within the cracks like muscle woven through bone, yet still allowing starlight to seep through. From the branches hung vials that seeped from their waxen stems, from the shores were caches of ornaments buried half-deep into the mud for the God of the lake to cherish, and though the pool itself lay in silent tranquility, the young nymph found her anxiety worsening despite nature's attempt to calm her nerves.

Falling to her knees, the Lady dared to peer into the infinite depths of the lake. Spinning a thread of softly lit magic, she curled the length of her energy over her fingers, only to part the seal of the water and allow her essence to flow into the currents. Her fingertips tingled at the magic that parted from her. In reaction, the lake pulsed in vibrant hues of sage and shamrock. From there she waited for the water to clear and for her future to appear before her. The constellations began to dim one by one. The wind pricked along the archway, rustling the ivory lichen. The vapour on the surface flowed in a clockwise direction, rising and falling as the current of the lake rotated and lapped at the shores. And then after the lake coalesced mere strides from where she lay, the mist receded and drawn into the centre was a flash of colour, then movement.

In the portal was a world the Lady had only heard tales of. Of a world far above the one she knew. She heard the distant clatter of hooves against stone, bore witness to the sharp corners of cobblestones along the ground and the great iron gates of what looked to be a city, encaging a twisted, angled building within. The mirage faded and reappeared, showing the twisted building in clearer detail, of the great oaken doors latched with black hinges; moss growing thickly within the cracks. But it was below the doors that intrigued the nymph, of the small bundle wrapped in a neatly hewn basket. It was only when the bundle writhed from the covers that she realised that the bundle was a baby.

"I heard whispers on the wind," had come a voice from the grove, from a shadow that dared to lurk along the border, "flutters in the air of a lady walking down these dark paths. You should not be here alone, little one."

"I came because I have little choice," the Lady whispered, the long vines of her mane keeping her face from his viewing. "My kind are taught that we are the guardians of the forests of the Underworld, that the lakes and seas and all in between are here simply because we have protected them for so long. But we nymphs must not be all important if some of us are this expendable."

The shadow creaked into the light of the moon, but she did not see him enter. "What is it that you see, little one, that disturbs you so?"

"I see the world above our own. I see a city, thick in the ashes of the father-oaks and abundant in their walls of stone. I see a place that to the very definition is a nightmare to a child, and I see a mortal child, unknowing to the fate it will soon find itself in."

She heard the flutter of wings and a felt a presence on her shoulder. When she dared to glance up, she spied the small frame of a fairy settling itself within her hair, burying into the confines like the most curious of magpies. Behind she heard the rickety rendering of the old faun's bark, of the twist in his bones and the stutter of his limbs. She felt the breathy pant of frosted air wisp into the night, and heard the deep, guttural croak of his voice when he prepared to speak. "The lake is as ancient and wise as the moon, as cunning and deceitful as the mountains, and as knowledgeable and foreseeing as the wind. What you see may be lie, may be truth, but why it shows you the mortal realm is… intriguing."

The Lady quietly shook her head.

Curious, the faun carefully crouched to the young nymph's side and quietly pressed a twisted finger to her chin, tilting it up just so. "What disturbs you, little one?" he asked, the ancient carvings on his brow creasing over the bridge of his nose, and the mist of his eyes gleaming in concern.

She lightly traced the black bristles of his jaw with her fingertips, followed the insignias of fate bound across his rind. "Why did you come here, Pan? The Fae King will not be happy when you are to leave on the morrow for the surface."

"Ah, it is not the morrow I leave the Underworld, little one, but," he smiled crookedly, raising one finger, "a day after. The king of Bezmorra is worried, begs for the daughter born by the moon. He has much to worry, but will not miss a lonely faun for one night."

"You cast your eyes away too quickly. You should be more cautious."

The faun straightened, twitching his finger from side to side. "Ah, you fear too much. Now, what is this talk of your people, hmm? Why do you peer into the lake? Should you not be sleeping until the summer?"

The nymph glanced away from him, casting her gaze back to the mirage playing still in the lake. "I've known for sometime that the God of this lake had a plan for me. I used to hear stories as a nymph-ling, barely tall enough to see the lowest branches of the trees. I tell of the tales told of my kind being indebted to Him and his wishes. It was the pact we kept, the solemn vow we scarcely understood." She drew the edge of her robe up to her thigh and showed the elder creature the scarred lines of a constellation embedded deep into her olive skin. "I have been chosen, Pan. And I'm not sure why, but I believe it has to do with what the lake portrays."

For a moment the faun was silent. He lay his hand carefully over her thigh and observed the markings adjust, shifting as the reflection had been on the water, then pulled his hand away and rubbed the back of his ear. They both knew that the marking was of magical orientation, and that what powerful spell had been placed upon the poor nymph was stronger than any witch could cast. The constellation itself was the sign of Aquarius, and no beast could make it as perfect as it had been engraved onto the young nymph's skin. Still, the Lady saw the concern that befell him, at the way his mind ticked in thought. The fairies he had brought landed on either side of his thighs, staring up at their master as the final fairy left the safety of the Lady's shoulder to be by his side.

Finally, he said, "There may be a way to undo this. If I spoke to the Fae King, perhaps…"

Persephone frowned, forcing the thorns of her robe back over her knees. "The king yearns for his daughter. A commoner will be of no thought to him."

Pan gave a wry grin. "You, my dear, have too little faith in me."

"Perhaps," she smiled, "but I believe this is one trick you cannot so easily fool others into believing. The kingdom rests on the princess Moanna's return. No matter what you say to the king, I will not be helped. He will not see-"

"Then I will make him see!"

The Lady stared helplessly at the faun when he rose to his feet and began to pace, mumbling words in a language she did not understand, in an accent she scarcely heard. It was not the tongue he used in the company of the king, it was not the language native to his mountain kin, instead it was a deeper, more ancient tongue, one spoken by the wind and echoed by the forest, one she was still to young to know.

A tide rippled the lake's reflection anew, catching the nympth's gaze quite quickly. She observed the change in scene, at the way the watery image shimmered in blue and silver, spiraling with the long strands of her essence. Her fingers twitched in the water. She found that she could not feel them.

Still the faun paced, arms braced behind his mane with the little fairies onlooking from the high branches. It was only when he heard the sudden shatter of the lake that he twisted round to find his young friend half-taken by it.

Dashing over to her as fast as his old hooves could carry him, the faun pried the weak lady from the depths to the shore. His worried gaze swept over her paling form, the rise in her chest stilling on every third pulse and the light in her eyes disappearing in the moonlight. His hand came down to hers and it was then that he saw the power branching from her other hand, still and dangling towards the lake.

His old bones creaked under the raw bite of consternation. Balancing the lady high in his lap, he scarcely whispered, "Your essence… is dying."

The fairies fluttered around the two of them, circling over her head and his antlers, praying to the moon to aid her. But it was not the moon that had captured her soul and twisted her destiny by its hands. It was not the forest nor the wind that dared disturb her from her slumber, but the lake and its God. Her kin belonged to Him, born from pacts of blood and trickery. And her time had come.

Feeling the will in her slip away, she mustered enough strength to brush the bristles of his jaw; to comb the stray hairs of his mane behind his long, drooping ears. "This… cannot be the end," she whispered shakily, a tear straying from her lashes. "Pan… I'm afraid."

The old faun curled himself around the young nymph, rocking quietly on his hooves. He bayed the moon to hide them from the God of the Lake, pleaded for the forest to pluck her oath from the water and free her soul from an ancient pledge she barely understood. But wishes had never been granted for the old faun, despite how he begged the heavens for a miracle. He was only in the company of his pets, and his pets, though mystical, barely held any power that could change the per-eminent mind of the benign.

As he felt the Lady's body fall slack in his arms, felt the last warm breath quiver against his neck, the old faun peered down into the vast sapphire that was the lake and saw the last traces of her silver essence pass from her fingertips, into the greedy clutches of the God. She had gone from the Underworld far too quickly, was far too young to be taken. Yet as he watched the water hazily, rocking along with the tide, he saw the faint vision of the orphanage begin to dispel.

Deep into the depths of his heart, he knew there was no changing what had been done. But he knew that no matter the rage he felt nor the amount that he wept, that the Gods, though finicky at times, were not completely, undeniably evil. There was a purpose to his loss, one that gave him some small comfort.

She was left by the shore, soon claimed by the water. But Pan knew it would not be the last time that he saw the Lady of the Lake. For fate would have their paths cross once more… many, many centuries later.

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I may have watched Pan's Labyrinth again and fell in love with the movie. I've been mulling over this idea for a while and though I may not get any readers since it is such an old movie, I still feel like writing and sharing this story. I just fell in love with the character of the Faun and the fact that the fairy kingdom has so little lore just leaves me with such unlimited creativity, it is just a setting I cannot help but indulge in.

I may not continue with this story for sometime, so I have marked it as complete.

To whoever reads this, hope you enjoy it :)


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